Best new face in the legislature

Best of Vancouver 2018: News & Politics

There was a new voice in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia last March—a very new voice, in fact.Romi Chandra Herbert

There was a new voice in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia last March. A very new voice, in fact. One that only managed a few squeaks and gibberish but which was still heard. It belonged to Dev Juno Chandra Herbert, who was only 13 months old when he took a seat in the legislature. Baby Dev was in Victoria with his father, Spencer Chandra Herbert, who is the NDP MLA representing Vancouver–West End.

Chandra Herbert brought his son to work to illustrate a change in chamber rules that now allows MLAs to sit with children two years old and younger. “MLAs voted to change the rules to make the Legislature more friendly for MLAs with babies today,” Chandra Herbert wrote on Facebook alongside a photo of Dev looking slightly confused by the whole affair. “Infants under two in the care of their parent are now welcome on the floor and committee rooms of the legislature.”